Special landscapes need protecting forever

The character of England’s landscapes is being slowly eroded; with a range of land use decisions, such as housing, transport and energy development, being made that damage the qualities that make a place special.

This even happens in National Parks and AONBs which are supposed to have the highest level of planning protection.

Some of these threats arise as a result of national polices, such as the national road-building strategy, and others as a result of a combination of national and local factors, such as a lack of five-year land supply for housing. CPRE believes that with increasing pressure for housing, transport and other infrastructure, it is more important than ever that England’s distinctive and diverse landscapes are a key consideration in land use decisions.

The Government commitment to ‘stronger protections for our natural landscapes’ will be positive if it makes a real difference on the ground, along with their ‘plan to conserve and enhance our natural environment so that it remains the most beautiful country in the world’. There are also Government plans to develop a 25 year plan for the recovery of nature within a generation. We will continue our efforts to raise the political profile of landscape and work to ensure that it is a key consideration in the national policies that affect the future of England’s landscapes.

Our landscape strategy for 2015/16 includes work to secure stronger, wider and better implemented national policies to protect and improve England’s landscapes, including National Parks and AONBs and to ensure that the importance of landscape character is properly recognised in local and neighbourhood planning processes. We want to ensure that landscape gets a voice both nationally and in the local places that matter to you.